Passion Needs Fashion

By BillieBLVD 

Where there is passion there is fashion. It's a phrase that I am glad to coin as uniquely my own; however, its only real because it is universal. You indeed feel the same way whether you know it or not. For example, football fans don the garments of their respective teams, golfers have a look that is conducive to the environment and manner in which the sport is played, and bikers have clothing that will protect them in the event of a fall from a motor bike.  No matter which of these groups you subscribe to, one thing is sure, your passion is proclaimed by your fashion.  

Cigar smokers happen to be one of the most if not "the most" passionate group of people on the planet.  They read about cigars, smoke them in lounges with fellow smokers, they watch youtube channels like ThePuroMaduroChannel for hours on end.  They go on tours to Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.  Why?  It’s not just good to smoke a cigar they want to understand its every aspect.  They age cigars for years in humidors that maintain their preferred humidity and temperature.  Passion indeed but they do not have a specific design aesthetic for clothing UNTIL NOW!!

The Leaf&Barrel cigar shirt is designed to look good, really good, but the shirt reflects the passion of a cigar smoker in its utility.  There are multitudes of shirts that are made with quality materials and sewn by the best seamstresses one can employ but how can a shirt enhance the cigar smoking experience?  How can the shirt allow the smoker to become one with the cigar?  A cigar shirt would have to feel good on the skin with high quality cotton, the collar would have to maintain its form as the smoker falls into the leather couch of a cigar lounge, the colors would have to cover the most conservative to the most flamboyant cigar smoker’s personal sense of style, but none of this is implicitly meaningful to the smoking experience.  

A cigar cannot be enjoyed if its construction is compromised.  For example, a break in the wrapper ruins the draw and burn of a cigar thus severely impacting the flavor profile. Cigars are fragile and they need to be carried in the most careful manner possible which is usually done with a leather case.  The case is rigid and helps to maintain moisture but with today’s slimmer fitting clothing a large leather case cannot be carried comfortably especially when you are already carring a wallet, a set of keys, and a mobile phone.  

The Leaf&Barrel cigar shirt features a pocket consisting of three individual cylinders designed to hold three cigars of any conventional ring gauge.  Once the cigar is in the pocket its surrounded by a non-breathing material that maintains the freshness of a cigar.  The pockets are hidden but they allow the world to see three pristine cigars.  The shirt says to the world I am a proud cigar smoker, a man of style, and I am man comfortable in his own skin.   

Billie B